Live in Washington, DC (2018)

live show

I’m not sure why pie shops don’t double as music venues more commonly. After all, they’re welcoming, casual, and who doesn’t like pie?

Dangerously Delicious Pies is a fantastic eatery located on the H Street Corridor in Washington, DC that recently started hosting live bands. Somebody there has great business sense; come for the incredible pies (both savory and sweet, try the Baltimore Bomb, the SMOG, and the Chocolate Peanut Butter Chess), stay for the show.

On a rainy February evening in the nations capital, a sizable crowd crammed into this neighborhood favorite to catch the Hudson Falcons on their 20th anniversary tour.

Opening the show was DC’s own Ménage á Garage. I hadn’t had a chance to catch them before this show, and I’m glad I arrived early for them. I’d heard them described as pop-punk, and I’d agree with that, but at the same time they go beyond just one label. The eight song set by the trio blasted energetic and densely structured tunes. Sure there were poppy singalongs, but there was also elements of 60s British mod music, harmonized gang vocals, and fantastic start/stop breakdowns that reminded me of a certain local post-hardcore band that many people seem to enjoy.

“New Jersey Working Class Rock and Fucking Roll” stalwarts Hudson Falcons then took the stage for their celebratory set. I’ve never understood why this band is left out of most conversations regarding great modern street punk bands. But I digress; perhaps that can be debated below.

Mark Linskey and company (including the drummer of Ménage á Garage, who was the original Hudson Falcons drummer) blistered through their set. One unique thing about the Falcons is that they don’t immediately come off as a “punk” band. Sure, they’re underground, and they sing about the working class, douchebag politicians, drinking beer, and street fights. But musically they are rock and roll, through and through. Whether it’s an arena sized power anthem, a country-tinged ballad, or circle pit shoutalong, the extensive pallet of influences makes for a much more engaging experience than most of their contemporaries.

With strong connections to the DC scene, Linskey seemed to have a dedication for each song in the set, the subjects of which were mostly in attendance. The most moving of these was the ballad “Another Whiskey Morning”, which was written about the late Dimitri Medevev, who was Linskey’s bandmate in the late-2000s incarnation of Iron Cross.

The “2 people or 200” mantra of the Hudson Falcons is what’s kept them going for the past 20 years. The Falcons continue to put themselves out there all on their own, because it’s what they love to do. As Mark will tell you, any more than a couple weeks at home is too long; they live to be on the road. A club, a bar, a pie shop, doesn’t matter. There are no egos here, no demanding riders, no sense of entitlement after 20 years. Just set up something resembling a PA and the Hudson Falcons will give it all they’ve got, and the crowd will love it.